Weight of the World
by The Lich
Summary: A young girl discovers she's the next incarnation of the Avatar...can she bring back peace to a newly torn world or fail trying?
1. Chapter 1: Beginnings

**Note: I do not own Avatar: The Last Airbender or any associated works or titles. All rights go to Nickelodeon, Michael Dante DiMartino and Bryan Konietzko.**

Light poked through in rare breaks of the dense canopy above, in yellow-white wispy strands in which pollen, dust and insects danced. The water below was mainly still and fish swam underneath the mud-crusted surface. Slowly creeping along the waterway was a small wooden canoe, in which sat two people. One was a male, the other a female, and both were dressed in strange garments made of wood, tree bark and leaves.

The male was leaning back at the rear of the boat, watching the canopy above them as they drifted sleepily along, and the girl was standing in the canoe, eyes watching the water beneath them, darting about occassionally as she watched the swimming fish. After several minutes, she squatted low and began to rise, arms scooping upward. Water shot up like spires, launching several fish through the air, landing, flopping, into their boat. She repeated the process a few more times before turning to her companion.

"You know, why is it that I'm the only one who does all the work?" she asked, squatting and rising.

The boy lazily lowered his head to look at her, then at the fish.

"Never asked for any help." he replied simply, gaze drifting back upwards.

The girl scowled and in the middle of rising, she twisted, sending muddy swamp water into the boy's face. He let out a startled yelp upon being doused and coughed, sneering at her, giving her his undivided attention. He flicked both wrists forward, two strands of water shooting out from besides the boat at the girl. She grinned and twisted again before straightening in a rigid, statue-like stance and lowered her hands, dumping the water onto his head. This time, instead of offering any resistance, the boy just let out a groan.

"Now, mind helping, Hau?"

"Yeah, yeah."

Hau got to his feet in the canoe and together they started the routine. Within minutes, they had gathered quite a number of fish. They stopped their Bending routine to put the fish into a few sacks laying about in the canoe.

"This is what they make you do every day?" Hau asked the girl. "Sure is boring."

"Not really...you get used to it." she replied. "Not like what they make you do, something easy."

"I gather wood for building, our clothes and the fires. That's easy?"

"Look," she guestured around them, to the trees growing at the banks of the muddy river and beyond. "Wood...all over the place."

"So are fish," Hau retorted. "You just go to any stream and there's a bunch of 'em swimming around."

"Good point, but you need to have a technique to it. You go flailing around, you're gonna scare 'em away. "

Hau merely grunted in reply, slipping the last of the fish into a sack. It was another lazy day with Hau, who never wanted to do more work than he had to. He was always like that, she thought, ever since they were kids. They bickered and fought and got into more than a few "fights", but they were close friends, friends that let nothing stand between them.

Hau's a year older than she was. He is thin and wiry, but fit, with messy short hair and lazy almond colored eyes. His face is always wrapped into a content grin, and she recalled that she had never seen Hau never once get sad, angry or surprised, aside from a few periods of "joke emotions". He never seemed to move or act with expending so much energy, perfectly content to drift lazily by and take his own time. Most of all, his eyes are the perfect example of this; content, dreamy and sleepy looking.

She, too, was wiry and thin. Her eyes are the color of river stones, and her hair, thick and coarse, a richy earthy brown. The more active of the pair, the girl is quite the contrast to her friend; always full of energy. While Hau was content doing nothing, she felt the need to do something, anything, any duty or job, no matter how seemingly trivial, for her tribe. It was sense of honor, conduct and dignity that drove her, and she felt somewhat sorry (secretly, of course) for Hau, who lacked any such drive or "inner flame", as her uncle called it.

The canoe was turning now, thanks to Hau, and was heading up-stream back to the village. Even his style of Waterbending reflected his relaxed, laxy persona; he didn't need to be as animated as others. All he need were fingers or the flicks of a wrist or two to propel the canoe in the water.

"Hang Mai," he was saying. "What do you think is out there, past those trees, huh? Open sky, or you think there are mountains or more trees?"

"I dunno. Maybe all of that."

"_All of that?_ When you look through the holes in the canopy the glimpses of the sky look so...small. How could you fit all of that into a small space?"

"I dunno. Some way or another. And those are tiny glimpses, Hau. I bet, if you went up past the trees, there's gonna be open sky, mountains and more trees. Maybe some more things, too." she shrugged. "The whole world isn't covered in a swamp, right?"

Hau shrugged. "Probably right. It'd be kinda nice to see."

"It wouldn't be that easy...there's stuff to take care of here, and going out there..."

"Never said it'd be." Hau gazed at her. "But it'll still be nice to see..."

The conversation dropped when the village was in sight further down the river. They pulled the canoe into the riverbed and dropped off the sacks of fish. The fish were cut and prepared by other tribesmen and women, and fires were being started. At dinner, Hau and Hang Mai watched the fire as a much older tribesman told tales of the "outside world", where men and women lived all over the world, in deserts, in cities and towns, even in the freezing cold of the north and south poles, much to the amazement of the other tribespeople. He spoke of men, many years ago, who used fire to wage war against the other nations, who wiped out the peaceful Air Nomads, and were ultimately stopped by the very last Airbender, a young Avatar by the name of Aang.

"As the rumors say," the old man was saying, standing near the fire, the flames illuminating his body and drawing dramatic shadows about his features. "Avatar Aang stopped those Firebenders during a fight with their leader-the Fire Lord Ozai...or was it Uzai? Anyways, he used some kinda bending to take away the Fire Lord's bending! And with that, the Fire Lord was defeated and his men were stopped."

"That's it?" Hau asked. "So _easily?_ C'mon..."

"Nothing is never so easy, boy." the old man grumbled. "But that's how it went! Avatar Aang saved the world from the Firebender threat."

The tale was finished and the old man retreated back to his meal.

"Hey," Hau whispered to Hang Mai during another man's tale. "You know what we were talkin' about earlier? About the world outside this swamp? We'll, tonight, we're gonna see it."

"What?"

"Yeah. When everyone's asleep, we'll take our canoe and choose a river and keep goin'. We'll pack some food and stuff, I mean, how long could it take until we get outta the swamp?"

"You heard the elder say before that the swamp goes for miles and miles...we're not gonna be back before morning if we go."

"Sure we are. C'mon. It'll be fun." he winked.

"I dunno...what if we're caught?"

Hau laughed.

"By who?" he asked. "_Fish, swamp critters and bugs?_ I don't think they'll care much."

"Maybe..." she said, trailing off when she looked at the excitement in his eyes. "Okay, but only if we're back by morning."

"Promise." he said. "We'll be back before anyone knows were even gone!"

* * *

**The Fire Nation, Fire Nation Capital City: The Fire Lord's Palace**

Fire Lord Zuko sat upon the throne, behind a wall of shimmering fire. Before him, a servant was reading reports of attacks on other nations from Firebenders. These attacks were few, rare and apparantly following no pattern, but were nevertheless being reported from across the Water Tribes and the Earth Kingdom.

Zuko watched the man with full interest, his aged features furrowing deeper and deeper as some reports delivered specific details on the supposed attacks, the victims and the aftermaths. He was much older looking than his eighty years of being on the throne permitted; he looked like a man well into his hundreds. His features were gray, sagged and wrinkled with age. His hair, snow-white, drastically contrasted the vivid scar on his face, drawing much attention to it due to it's outstanding color on the old man.

Beside the reading servant, was a man clothed in military garb, with the trappings of a high-ranking elite. Zuko regarded the man as the servant read, bringing up a hand to halt the reading.

"Commander Ren Lan, are these reporst accurate?"

"Yes, Fire Lord Zuko. We've dispatched men to invesitgate the damage, and they sent reports nearly indentical to the ones you are hearing now." the Commander replied.

"Any findings to who is responsible?"

"None whatsoever." Ren Lan said. "It could be Firebenders, or it could be the case of an arsonist. There are no reported Firebenders in the area, a total lack of living eyewitnesses. We aren't...sure who is responsible."

Zuko shifted in his seat.

"Unacceptable..._nothing_ at all, Commander? I want you to deploy more men, then, whatever it takes to get some answers." Zuko growled. "This cannot keep happening, being arson or not. The Fire Nation name is being slandered, and we must find out a way to stop this. If you have nothing more to report, Commander Ren Lan, I'd suggest you go about arranging accomadations to find answers."

Ren Lan bowed and turned on his heels to leave the chamber. Outside the chamber, awaited his right-hand man and closest friend Gao. Gao smirked as he caught a glimpse of Ren Lan's face, which betrayed annoyance, anger and irritation.

"Not well, huh?" he asked.

"No. The old fool has no idea-he must think this sort of work is...a game!" Ren Lan said in a hard edged voice. "And what am I treated like? A mere toy or peasant. He has yet to spare me the respect I deserve."

"Well, he _is_ the Fire Lord, my friend..."

"Of course. But _I_ command his army._ I_ make sure this nation, and _Zuko himself_, remains safe at all times. _I_ rose through the ranks and brought order, respectability and-"

Gao rested a hand on Ren Lan's shoulder, silencing him.

"Let us forget about that a moment," he said, leading him down the hall at a slow pace. "I have something else to speak about."

"Well, what is it?" his friend snapped.

"Do you remember that person you've asked me to contact, just _'in case'_?"

"Yes," Ren Lan said cautiously.

"I have. And I got a reply. Let's say...they've accepted our...trade and have accepted us. Plans are already in motion."

"I see..." the Commander stroked his beard. "Good..."

They stopped at a door, at which Gao took his arm off of Ren Lan's shoulder and pushed open. It was a storage room of kind, empty and musty, not used in years, Ren Lan guessed, from the layer of dust upon the walls ceilings and floors. It was not utterly empty, however, as a figure was standing at the other side of the small chamber. The figure glanced up as the two men entered and approached.

"Lieutenant Gao," the figure said. "Commander Ren Lan."

"It is good we could meet again, I am glad." Gao smiled. "Ren Lan, this is Desheng. He's with the men you asked me to contact."

"A pleasure." said Ren Lan.

"Likewise," said Desheng.

"You've accepted our...agreement?"

"Yes," Desheng nodded, his black robe shifting. "You are welcomed among us...but your...initiation, if we shall call it that, will be...delayed to another time. There are more pressing matters at hand...Commander, your Lieutenant tells me you have a plan."

"Yes. As a sign of...goodwill between you, your...group and I, I'll aid you. I've heard murmurs that you are looking to remove Fire Lord Zuko from the throne...perhaps I can be of some help."

"Speak."

"His gracious Lord will be taking a rather...lavish bath this night, as he does every night of the week...I can provide you the location and the time for...let's say, an opening. A much rather unfortunate accident can happen to our Lord while he's perfectly helpess in the bath, yes?"

"Yes."

"Good. Could it be done?"

"Without as much as a peep." Desheng nodded. "He won't suspect a thing. Not a thing will be out a of place. I will put plans in motion. If it is as you say, Zuko will die tonight in his bath."

"And we take control of the throne immediately?"

"Yes. We've already made plans to...secure our...successor. I will contact those involved. Once Zuko dies, our successor will be secured, and immediately afterwards, we have control of the throne, and the Fire Nation. Tell me where Zuko will bathe and at what time tonight...and then I must go."

Ren Lan provided the details. Zuko did not use the Fire Lord's personal bathing quarters, as that was too easy a target. He had a private bathing room on the servant's floor of the Palace, away from prying eyes and known only by his most trusted. He bathed each night, at exactly the same time, which Ren Lan also provided to the listening Desheng.

"Hm..." the robed Desheng nodded at Ren Lan's words. "I have passed that room on many occassions. I had thought it to be servant quarters or supply rooms...interesting... now, if you would excuse me?"

"Wait-" Ren Lan blurted as Desheng brushed past them and nearly left the room.

The black robed man stopped at the door and turned to look over his shoulder.

"_Who is _your successor for the throne?" Ren Lan questioned. "I wish to know."

Desheng paused, peering at the two. He did not move, nor seemingly breathe, but stayed silent like a black statue. After several long seconds, he nodded, more to himself than to anyone else, and turned to face the pair.

"Who do you think, Commander? The Crown Prince, the very son of Zuko himself? No...our successor holds true to the ideals of our beliefs, the beliefs of the great Ozai." Desheng answered. "Our successor is the Princess Azula. She has the strength and belief to do what Zuko failed to do-uphold Ozai's brilliant legacy!"

Ren Lan blinked in shock. Princess Azula had, reportedly, fallen into despair and insanity after Ozai's defeat and has since been locked into a facility on a remote island where she was kept, under key and guard, to monitor her health. There was little news of her, or any recovery or progress, and Zuko would dismiss such news quickly. Ren Lan had wondered what really happened, or was happening to the Princess. No doubt, Desheng and his men had agents on the inside of the facility, ready to perform something to free Azula at a given whim, transport her back to the Capital and to claim the throne. If it was to be pulled off within minutes before or after Zuko's death, Ren Lan would be admittedly impressed.

"I must go," Desheng said, turning back to the door. "But be assured: the colors of the Immortal Phoenix shall fly tonight."

And before either could ask any further questions, Desheng was gone.


	2. Chapter 2: Visitors

**Note: I do not own Avatar: The Last Airbender or any associated works or titles. All rights go to Nickelodeon, Michael Dante DiMartino and Bryan Konietzko**.

**The Fire Nation;**  
**Fire Nation Capital Fire Lord's Private Bathing Quarters:**

Zuko undressed himself and stepped into the basin, letting the water soak him. As he relaxed, the water began to steam and slightly bubble and he relished the heat. To some, bathing was a luxury and he indulged in it every night. It was relaxing and soothing, not to mention good for hygiene...

"Fetch me some towels," he said, looking at the servant girl who waited at the door.

She nodded in response and exited the chamber quickly. Zuko leaned back and closed his eyes, recalling the troubling news he had been getting all the past few months, the past few days being the most recent, and startling. He wanted answers and a solution, not shallow promises of his officers...

His reign is a hard one. Tasked with pacifiying the recent regime of war-like violence in the Fire Nation was hard, and many die-hard followers of his father had to be imprisoned for the sake of peace, as well as their own. There were riots throughout the Fire Nation, as well as escalating acts of vandalism and violence until, finally, Zuko brought in the Fire Nation army to quell dissent. And then there was the task of rebuilding the world, repairing all the damage that was done, fixing the relations between the Fire Nation and the other nations...it wasn't easy, and Zuko very well knew it wouldn't be easy, but it had worn him out. He lost the energy and drive he had when he was a young man and old age took a heavy toll on his body, more than one would percieve with a look, and more than he liked to admit to his cohorts, friends, his children, even his wife.

His thoughts drifted to his family. Without Mai, Zuko doubted he'd be the man he was today. Together they were happy, and Mai stood by her husband's side and a source of neverending support. They had two children together, two boys. The elder, Shen, would take Zuko's place on the throne after he passed. Shen looked more like his mother than he did his father, and his personality being a mixtue of both; serious, quiet and calm.

The younger son, Kuzon, is the exact copy of Zuko as a youth; hot-headed, short tempered and stern. When Kuzon was born, Zuko's close friend, the Avatar, witnessed the birth and suggested the name for the child, after a boy Aang was friends with before he was frozen in the iceberg. Zuko liked the name and thought it had meaning, coming from a friendf and the Avatar both, and gave the boy the name. Kuzon wasn't exactly fit to have a position of rule, instead focusing on his Bending and combat abilities, and joined the Army at a young age. Instead of being pampered and having priviledge handed to him, Kuzon rose through the ranks on his own, a feat that he, and his family, were proud of. Zuko wondered how Kuzon would act with his passing, and hoped he would stand by his brother.

As Zuko wondered, the door opened and a servant came in, bearing the requested towels. Zuko watched as the man approached and laid the towels down near the basin. He asked the man to hand him one and the man complied, lifting and offering a rolled towel. As Zuko took it, the man sezied his wrist.

"_What are you doing? Get off me_!"

"I must apologize, Fire Lord Zuko, but your time is at and end." the man said.

"What!"

Zuko formed a fist with his other hand and swung it in an arc at the man, sending a blast of fire from the fist. The man bent and swept his free hand, and Zuko's fireball twisted and dispersed. Growling, Zuko stood up and wrapped his hand around the attacker's arm and heaved, lifting him up and tossing him over his shoulder. As the man crashed to the ground, Zuko jumped and brought his heel down onto the man, who rolled out of the way at the last second as fire flared against the tile.

"Not bad, _old man_, but you're tired, aren't you?"

"_'Old?' _I am not the only 'old one' here!"

Laughing, the man got to his feet and sent a spinning-kick at the Fire Lord's direction, a curving stream of fire lashing out as the foot spun and curved in motion. Zuko ducked as the stream skimmed the wall behind him and pushed both arms forward, blasting two gouts of flame out of his hands. The attacker flipped to the side, his robes getting caught by the flames as he travelled in the and, upon landing, bounded forward, tackling into Zuko and knocking them both to the tile. As they struggled, the robed attacker pulled a dagger out of his left sleeve.

"Good-bye, Zuko. You're an obstacle in the way of Ozai's legacy flourishing." the man whispered. "With your death, the colors of the Immortal Phoenix will spread like wild-fire! I, Desheng, shall be immortalized as **the one who slew Fire Lord Zuko**!"

Desheng reared back, black robes billowing like smoke, the blade, gleaming in the cande-light of the chamber, was held tightly in his right hand. For a split-second, Desheng looked with satsifaction in Zuko's eyes, the eyes of a man who is watching his own death coming and was utterly helpless to stop it. Grasping the dagger with both hands, Desheng plunged it viciously into Zuko's chest; straight into the heart of the elder man. For several minutes, the two men stared at each other. Zuko's face curled into a snarl before finally going limp and relaxing. Desheng peered at him before stepping off the body, smirked triumphantly, pulling the dagger out of Zuko's chest.

Within minutes, the facility at which Azula was still being held would erupt into the flames, and the Princess would be bound for the capital. The Royal Family would surrender or die, it did not matter to Desheng, as his forces were much more skilled, and vicious, than the guards guarding the family. Sliding the dagger back into it's holster on the underside of his left forearm, Desheng slid out of the chamber like a shadow.

* * *

**The Swamp:**

Hau and Hang Mai snuck out of their family huts when everyone else was asleep. They met by their canoe, each carrying a small bag with food and a few extra supplies. Quietly, they pushed the wooden canoe into the water, got in, and started to Waterbend down the river. Until they were a good distance away from their village, they remained silent.

"See? Hardest part's over." Hau said in the dark, moving the boat swiftly down the waterway.

"Not really...getting back before sunrise and folks are awake is the hardest part."

"Don't you ever have fun? C'mon, it's our night to ourselves. Let's enjoy it."

The swamp was dark and active with sounds everywhere. Nocturnal creature noises; from screeches to dull grumbling, as well as the endless, static-like chattering of insects. The air swarmed with hundreds of tiny bugs that clouded around the pair, attracted by the heat of their bodies. Hau swung his arms back and forth, sending wide shots of water to sweep away the bugs.

"Remember the story the elder was tellin' tonight?" Hang Mai asked. "About how the Avatar beat the Fire Lord, and that our tribe helped with some invasion or other?"

"I think he made some of it up...'specially the part about the Fire Lord." Hau replied. "So, what about the story?"

"Well, what do you think the Avatar looked like?"

"Like you an' me, Hang Mai. A person. Maybe he was old, maybe young. He might've had a funny lookin' beard, or a mustache or no hair at all. Or maybe he was a she." Hau said. "I dunno."

"I thought someone like the Avatar would look more...spirit-ly or somethin'...I mean, he-or she-can bend all the elements, right?"

"Yeah. Water, earth, air and fire. All of 'em. Must be cool to have all that power."

"Maybe it's a burden...I mean, to learn all about them and study the kinds of people. You can't get careless with it." Hang Mai said.

"I dunno, maybe." Hau shrugged, sitting down in the canoe. "I don't really care much, anyways."

"You don't care?" she asked, surprised.

"Yeah. Doesn't affect me. Not like I'm the Avatar or the Avatar's gonna come an' visit our village an' help our people in some way or something." Hau replied. "Kinda makes it seem like we're unimportant or something."

They remained quiet as the canoe kept along it's course on the river. The water here was moving a bit faster than the water-way in which they fished during the afternoon, and it wasn't as muddy. But it wasn't clean water, as there was moss and algae floating on the surface; dark green spots mixed with the occassional muddy spot. Overhead, glowing insects shone like small stars as they flew about in the dark, and it was quieter here, save for the sound of the water and the insects. Hang Mai sat at the front on the canoe, watching the surroundings in front of them while Hau, like always, rested loosely at the rear.

"Hey, Hau," she leaned forward and elbowed him. "There's some lights up ahead in the distance."

"Probably some of the bugs..."

"I dunno, come look. They aren't like the bugs..."

Hau leaned forward and crawled to the front of the ship to look where Hang Mai was pointing. The lights were moving down the river at a good pace, and were a flickering yellowish in color. Hau softly grunted.

"_Boats_." he said quietly.

"Boats? But..."

"Three of 'em, from what I'm seeing now. Dunno if there are any more, but those lights are comin' from fire...probably tied to the boats so they can see in the dark. Lanterns, maybe, I dunno." Hau said, eyes scanning the distance.

The river water began to get more turbulent as the boats approached and within minutes, Hau and Hang Mai were looking at the wooden fores of the boats. As Hau had stated, there were lit lanterns tied to the front and sides of the ships, providing illumination and vision. The swamp-dwellers steered their canoe clear of the ship at the head of the party, going along it's right side, looking up with awe at the wooden construction. There was movement on the deck and then the pair in the canoe watched as they were being looked at by a few faces from the deck of the boat.

"Hello there!" said a man from the boat. "Swamp benders!"

"How do you know who we are?" Hang Mai called up.

"Look at us," Hau muttered. "Wearin' leaves an' bark compaired to what those guys are wearing..."

"Let's call it a hunch," the man grinned. "Is there a village around here?"

"Why do you want to know?"

"It's important. We would like to talk with your chief, or elder, or whoever rules you." the man called down. "Could you take us there? We intend no harm."

"We can take you there, I guess..." Hang Mai answered, turning to Hau. "Should we?"

"We can't outrun them if we try to run, and if the got weapons or something, that'd be a short trip. They say they don't mean harm, so I suppose...I dunno. We're gonna get caught either way."

Hang Mai nodded at her friend and turned back to the boats. She raised a hand and motioned for them to follow. The man smiled and nodded, shouting for the boats to follow the small canoe. Hau stood and outstretched both arms to the side and twisted his body. The canoe turned on the spot and began making it's way back up the river. When they were ahead by several feet, the trio of wooden ships lurched forward and followed.

"Shall we give 'em a look at how it's done in the Foggy Swamp?" Hau suggested.

"Sure." Hang Mai grinned.

Hau cracked a wider grin and began to spin his arms in wide, circular motions. The canoe picked up speed and kicked forward. She laughed and turned back to watch the wooden boats shrink away. She watched as the sails of the wooden boats pushed forward, as if getting a good wind and pick up speed after them, keeping the pace. As they grew closer, she saw circular currents of air behind the sails.

_'Airbenders!'_ she thought.

"Hau! They're-!"

"I know," he replied.

For the first time in her life, Hang Mai saw Hau surprised. They continued down until they reached their village, at which he steered the canoe onto the riverbed and jumped off, rushing to alert the elder. At the commotion, others were leaving their huts and watched as the wooden boats grew closer.


End file.
